NOUN: When ‘Open Varsity’ Defies Primary Purpose
The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is undergoing a demographic shift, evolving from a sanctuary for working professionals into a primary destination for Nigeria’s youth bulge. Fuelled by an immunity to industrial strikes and the removal of the part-time label, enrolment has surged by nearly 46 per cent since 2021, reaching an active undergraduate population of 133,000. Most notably, Gen Z students (ages 18–22) now represent the fastest-growing segment – ashift that has prompted the National Universities Commission (NUC) to re-evaluate the long-standing exclusion of NOUN graduates from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, IYABO LAWAL reports.
Once viewed as a second chance for working adults, the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has undergone a radical demographic transformation. Between 2020 and 2025, driven by a strike-proof academic calendar and the removal of the “part-time” label, the institution has evolved into a primary destination for the Nigerian youth.
The demographic shift is stark. Once defined by students over 30 years of age, NOUN’s fastest-growing cohort is now 18- to 22-year-olds drawn by its no-JAMB requirement. Anecdotal data suggest that the age group grew from 50,561 in 2019 to 236,052 in 2025, while students aged 30 and above fell from 79 per cent to 51.3 per cent.
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Graduate profiles reportedly show 89 per cent of NOUN’s 3,112 graduates were over 30 in 2020, but 60.6 per cent of 11,408 graduates were 25 or younger by 2025, fundamentally altering NOUN’s student profile.
This shift has direct policy implications: while older graduates traditionally received exemptions from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the surge in younger degree-holders has rendered the current mobilisation framework obsolete.
Consequently, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has pledged to re-evaluate NOUN’s exclusion from national service. However, this strategic drift has sparked debate.
Experts argue that without an honest conversation about its founding purpose, NOUN risks being repurposed from a platform for lifelong learning into an unintended detour around conventional university disciplines.
As the largest single-institution academic body in Sub-Saharan Africa, NOUN’s trajectory now forces a critical examination of its core vision and potential for reinvention.
In 2025, the total undergraduate student population was 133,000 (active students). Since 2021, the university has experienced an increase in student enrolment at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
A total of 110,431 students, both new and returning, registered during the 2022 first semester. This is an improvement on the 100,887 students registered for the 2021 second semester.
